The Visitor
by ArenLuxon
Summary: The Longbottoms have a regular visitor in the hospital: Remus Lupin.


"I'm going to teach, at Hogwarts." There was excitement in his voice. "Your son goes there: Neville. You remember him, right?"

Frank Longbottom did not react. Not even when the visitor mentioned the name of their son.

He never reacted after all.

Angel had been working here for a week now, and in that week, she had heard Mr. Longbottom speak only a few words. He _could_ still speak, but he did not use it to _respond_ to things. Rather he would convey small things. Words like 'hungry' or 'tired' were common. Never a full sentence however.

Occasionally, he would speak a word that didn't exist, but they could usually figure out what he meant by his body language.

Alice Longbottom on the other hand only gestured and she too did not react to anything you said to her.

"Dumbledore helped me, again," the visitor kept going, but no matter what he tried, there was no reaction.

Mrs. Longbottom joined the two men. She handed the visitor a candy wrapper.

That Angel did recognise. A Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper.

Lupin accepted it and carefully put it in one of the pockets of his shabby coat.

Very strange.

The only person she had ever seen her hand it to was her son. While she did not seem to recognise him, she did hand him the wrappers all the time. Not to any of the Healers here or the other patients or even her own mother, only to Neville and now, this visitor as well.

Clearly, Alice was capable of telling different 'types' of people apart, or else she would be handing it to everyone. And this candy wrapper had to have some kind of meaning.

But who was this visitor that she treated him like her own son? Just how close were they? Or was there a different meaning behind the wrappers?

Or maybe she was looking for a meaning that wasn't there. It could just be a-

"Angel," a voice called.

"Oh, sorry, Miss Hudson. I was just curious about this visitor."

Miss Hudson, whose first name was a mystery, adjusted her glasses. "That's Remus Lupin. An old friend of them."

"He must be a really good friend if he still comes to visit them after all this time."

Miss Hudson shrugged.

Someone else joined the scene that was getting ever more crowded. Someone with blue eyes, blonde hair and very shiny teeth.

"Do you want my autograph?" he asked, clamping the arm of Lupin.

"Of course," Lupin said smoohtly. "You're very famous, professor."

"Of course I… _professor_?" Lockhart cocked his head to the side.

"Yes, you were teaching Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Surely you remember, professor Lockhart. In fact, I am the one who's going to replace you."

"Yes, yes, of course I remember," Lockhart said, confused.

Miss Hudson clacked her tongue.

"I'll take care of it," Angel said quickly.

She walked to the group.

"Come on Gilderoy," she said. "We're going to sign some sheets. You can practise your joint-writing."

"Yes, yes, excellent idea," Lockhart mumbled. "Autographs."

She gently guided him away from Lupin, who flashed her a thankful smile.

Angel noticed there were scars running over his face. Given the distance and shape, those could only be claw marks. Had he been attacked by some kind of animal? And if so, what kind of monster was it that even magic could not heal them?

She did not dare to ask.

* * *

"You should have seen him take care of that boggart, it was amazing. He yelled the spell and suddenly, Snape was dressed in his grandmother's clothes. A natural talent, I'm telling you."

Lupin looked a bit better this time. His face remained permanently tired and his clothes were still shabby, but there was a strange energy in his voice now.

Angel came standing with them. "May I join you?"

"Of course," Lupin said. He gestured to the second chair.

"I've been wanting to ask you," Angel said as she sat down. "Are you an Auror?"

"Oh no," Lupin smiled. "I could never be an Auror."

There was a strange bitterness in his voice.

"Why not?" she asked.

"It's not important. But what made you think I was?"

"I can't think of any other way you could have been good friends with the Longbottoms."

"We weren't that close. But we have some history together."

He seemed to be lost in thoughts of the past.

Angel didn't press on. Maybe next time she would ask him.

* * *

"He was at the ministry. It was all over the newspapers," Lupin said. His voice was more tired than ever, but he still tried his best to sound enthusiastic. "Look." He held up the paper he had brought with him.

There were pictures of all of them. Harry Potter's picture was the biggest by far, but at the bottom of the page was a small picture of a teenager with a round face. The shape was almost identical to that of his father.

However, said father did not respond when he saw it.

"I'll just leave this here," Lupin said. He put the paper on the nightstand. "Take care, Frank."

For a moment, she thought she saw Mr. Longbottom nodding, but then it was gone again. She must have been mistaken.

Lupin put on his coat.

Angel gathered her courage.

"Excuse me."

"Hm?" Lupin looked up.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he said. "Ask away."

She took a deep breath. "Why are you still coming here? Even if you are a friend, it's…" she hesitated. "The Longbottoms were well loved, but now, only his family ever comes to visit. And you did say last time you weren't that close."

Lupin's face hardened. "Sometimes, I need a reminder of what we're fighting for."

She did not know how to reply to that. But no reply was needed.

"Take care, Angel."

She didn't ask how he knew her name.

* * *

"I can't stay long," Lupin said on a hushed tone. "But I wanted you to know Neville is leading the resistance at Hogwarts. I always knew that boy had it in him. Your son is a true hero."

There was no reaction from either of the Longbottoms.

Lupin looked over his shoulder as if he expected someone to sneak up on him.

"Mark my words," Lupin added. "If it wasn't for Harry, Neville would be the one to kill…" he dropped his voice. "Voldemort."

"Uhm," Angel said. "Visiting hours are over."

"Oh. Sorry," he checked his watch. "Lost track of time."

"It's okay."

She knew he hadn't. Lupin had sneaked in at this hour on purpose. And from his clothes she guessed he was on the run. He always wore shabby clothes of course, but this time it was even more obvious. Only magic could have kept that coat from falling apart entirely.

"Until next time," he said.

"Looking forward to it," she replied with a smile.

However, that was the last time he ever came to visit.

She found his name later in the Daily Prophet. Among the list of casualties in the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Moony," a voice said.

Angel looked up from her paper. Frank Longbottom stood in front of her.

"Moony?" he repeated.

"What's a Moony?"

"Moony," Frank insisted.

She had no idea what he meant. Was he talking about the moon? But the moon wasn't up right now, it was still morning.

"Angel?"

"Oh, Miss Hudson, sorry." She quickly put down the paper.

"Can you check on Gilderoy? He's acting up again."

She looked at Lockhart's bed. Miss Hudson was right. He was holding one of his exquisite quills and tried to write his name, however, he wasn't using paper, but rather the curtains of his own bed.

"Sorry Mr. Longbottom," she said. "We'll look for the moon later."

She thought she saw him nodding, but that wasn't possible of course. Frank Longbottom was long gone. The only thing standing before her now was the empty shell of a human. There was no way he would ever recover.

If only she knew what a 'moony' was.

 _Oh well_ , she shrugged, _it couldn't be that important_.

Frank had spoken non-existent words before so it probably carried no meaning at all.

 _Probably._


End file.
